


My Initials on Your Hand

by whiteduck6



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M, Soulmates AU, but only slightly - Freeform, cameo by makkachin, cameo by phichit, slight homophobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-27 05:34:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8389207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteduck6/pseuds/whiteduck6
Summary: Inspired by a prompt by @heartsighmuke on Tumblr:
Your soulmate's initials are imprinted on the skin of your hand at birth, and the letters burn more intensely as the day you meet them grows closer.





	1. Chapter 1

In Yuri’s world, you were born with the initials of your soulmate on your hand. As you grew closer to meeting them, the letters would burn more intensely. Yuri knew this from a young age - everyone did. His mother had TK on her hand, for Toshiya Katsuki. His father had HS, for Hiroko Shigeki - his mother’s maiden name. His sister had KY - her soulmate hadn’t been giving her any trouble recently, so she knew she wasn’t anywhere close to meeting her soulmate. 

Yuri’s read VN. He knew there weren’t any Japanese names that started with a V, and that had led to hours of daydreaming as a young boy, wondering what his soulmate’s name would be. Valerie? Vanessa? Vera?

When he was 11 he had come to the conclusion that he was bisexual. That only opened up more options for his soulmate - as if he hadn’t had enough to worry about before!

When he first saw Viktor Nikiforov skating, his breath had caught in his throat. He wanted to know more about this beautiful boy, who danced across the ice, his long hair trailing behind him. He glowed with an ethereal beauty, he was an otherworldly creature, an ice nymph. Yuri’s eyes had flicked down to his left hand and had seen the VN on them, and for one second, had allowed himself to wonder. 

He quickly dismissed that idea - Viktor Nikiforov was too good for him. He doubted they would ever even skate on the same ice, let alone be soulmates.

But that tiny thought in the back of his mind, the idea that Viktor, the Viktor Nikiforov, might be his soulmate, kept him going. It kept him going through every sprained ankle, through every bruise and every fall. And eventually, his persistence got him there.

He had made it to the Grand Prix, the same one as Viktor.

And he had lost.

It wasn’t even a graceful defeat - he had come in last, but he could have at least come only a few points behind the others.

No. Fifteen. Points. Behind.

He had been ready to head home and hide, to escape to the comfort and privacy of his room, where there wouldn’t be any reporters or nosy family members. He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed the pain in his left hand.

He was dragging himself out of the arena where the Grand Prix was held when he heard his name. He turned around to see Viktor talking to the other Yuri, Yuri Plisetsky. Yuri shuddered at the memory of getting yelled at and continued on, throwing one glance back at Viktor. 

Viktor’s eyes met his, and his hand exploded in pain.

It was as if someone was branding it. Yuri somehow managed not to scream, clenching his fist as tight as he could. He barely even heard what Viktor said, instead turning on his heel and walking out of the building as fast as he could. He didn’t look back again.

As soon as he was home, he’d holed himself up in his room. He didn’t want to think about what had happened. I’m sure it’s someone else, he thought to himself. There’s no way. It’s someone else with the initials VN. He tried to shut up the part of his brain that kept thinking it was Viktor.

The only thing he ended up getting done, aside from moping in his room and eating too much, was visiting Yuko at the Ice Castle. And even then, he hadn’t performed anything original - just Viktor’s skating routine that he used at the Grand Prix this year. Yuko had sworn up and down that it was amazing, that he was so talented, that she couldn’t believe the judges had put him in last place. None of it had really meant anything to him, but he’d thanked her for the compliments anyway. He was feeling a bit better now that he’d gotten out of the house, but he still wasn’t feeling great. 

The days blended together after that, one turning into the next, following a familiar routine that he’d known since he was a child. He didn’t exactly feel good about himself - he wasn’t doing his exercises, and he was barely doing any skating - but what else could he do about it? 

He didn’t know how long he’d been home before his mom forced him out of his room to shovel snow. He yawned widely, opening his curtains to see that everything outside had been covered in snow. He sighed and looked at his left hand again. The VN was now scarred over, instead of being clean lines. He knew that the initials scarred over once you met your soulmate - his parents had shown him when he was younger that their marks were both scarred. He wished that he hadn’t met them in such a hectic area - he probably wasn’t going to find them at all now.

He got dressed slowly, pulling on a worn pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. He shuffled into the hallway, still feeling listless, when a large dog bowled him over. He blinked a few times, trying to focus his eyes so he could see what he was looking at.

“Vicchan?” He said. He had no idea who this dog was, or who he belonged to. He looked a bit like Viktor Nikiforov’s dog, actually, but he doubted that was the case. There were probably lots of brown standard poodles in Japan. 

“Yuri, there you are!” his father said, “I see you’ve met our new guest. He came with a handsome Russian man, he’s in the onsen right now.”

“R-Russian?” Yuri exclaimed. He scrambled to his feet, throwing his body forwards into a dead sprint. He turned the sharp corner into the indoor baths, scanned the room quickly for the trademark silver hair. He didn’t see it, so he shoved the door to the outdoor baths open, throwing himself out of it. 

Sure enough, Viktor Nikiforov was waiting in the onsen.

“Why are you here?!” Yuri said without thinking. He flinched. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I mean-“

“I know what you mean,” Viktor said, “I think we both know why I came here. It’s because of this.” He waded through the bath until he was on the side closest to the door, where Yuri was. He turned his left hand palm-up, showing him a scarred YK. 

“Your name is Yuri Katsuki, right?”

“Y-yes.”

“My mark scarred over as soon as I saw you. That’s not a coincidence.”

“I’m certain it’s someone else, I don’t think I could ever be-“

Viktor grabbed his left hand, turning it over so they could both see the scarred VN. 

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”

“I . . . I don’t . . . there’s lots of people with the initials YK.”

“Yes, but I’ve seen many people with YK initials and my mark has never reacted. Until I met you.”

“There must have been a mistake-“

“Yuri.” Viktor took hold of Yuri’s other hand, wrapping his fingers around Yuri’s. “How long have you been waiting for this? Why can’t you just go with it?”

Yuri didn’t say anything.

“I’ve wanted to meet you for so long - as I got older I became more and more convinced that we would never meet. Meeting your soulmate is one of the biggest milestones in your life, and we were lucky enough to meet each other. Why can’t you accept this?”

“I . . .” Yuri swallowed and looked down. “I’m not good enough for you. You’re famous and a world-renowned figure skater and I’m just some guy who sometimes helps out with his family’s inn. I’m nobody. You deserve someone like you.”

“Well, we definitely have something in common,” Viktor said, “we’re both wonderful figure skaters.”

“W-we are? I mean, you are, definitely, but I am?”

“I saw you skating my routine, Yuri. You did it beautifully. I couldn’t believe that you’d placed last at the Grand Prix.”

“How did you see it?” Yuri asked, before it struck him. The triplets. They must have secretly filmed it and put it on YouTube, conniving little brats. He made a mental note to chew them out later. 

“It was online, but please, we should save formalities for later. There’s so much more I want to learn about you.”

“O-oh?” Yuri asked, trying not to stare as Viktor got out of the hot spring, coming to stand in front of Yuri. He’s not even wrapping his towel around his waist! Yuri thought. He was certain he was blushing furiously.

“Tell me everything,” Viktor said, “we have all the time in the world."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor and Yuri slowly get used to the idea of being each other's soulmates. There's still tension, though, as Yuri's parents are still oblivious to the situation. But for how long . . . ?

As soon as Viktor had gotten out of the onsen, he had put on fingerless gloves. Yuri knew this was probably to hide the scarred initials on his hand. It wasn’t a common practice, but it wasn’t unheard of - normally you wanted to let the world know when you’d found your soulmate, but there was occasionally a couple that wanted to keep it to themselves.

Like Viktor and himself.

Neither of them had any idea how his parents would react, so Yuri tugged the sleeves of his hoodie over his palms and Viktor wore the fingerless gloves. Viktor had told him not to worry, that it would all work out, but secretly, Yuri was still worried that something would happen when his parents found out. They still didn’t know he was bisexual, and none of his parent’s friends were gay or lesbian, much less bi - he knew that there was a bit of a stigma surrounding the label.

Viktor had been the prefect houseguest - he’d charmed his parents into submission, cleaning up after himself meticulously and flashing his confident smile at them whenever he could. Yuri felt a bit guilty for not doing anything on his part, but Viktor hadn’t seemed worried.

That night, Yuri had been lying in his bed, trying to figure out how he was going to deal with all this, when someone knocked on his door softly. He opened it up to find Viktor standing in his doorway, Makkachin at his heels. “I was wondering if you wanted to sleep together,” Viktor said, as though he was just asking to borrow a pen. 

“W-what? Sleep together?”

“In the same bed,” Viktor laughed softly, “I’m not planning on ravishing you not twelve hours after we meet.”

Yuri blushed violently but let him in, not wanting to turn down his idol. Yes, Viktor was apparently his soulmate, but he was also someone Yuri looked up to greatly, and he didn’t want to disappoint him, even in the slightest way.

As though he was reading Yuri’s mind, Viktor said “We don’t have to if you really don’t want to. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“No, no, I, um, I want to,” Yuri said, “But, uh, it’s a bit awkward in here, I have some things I need to put away first . . .”

“No need,” Viktor said, happily striding right past him, into Yuri’s room that was, horrifically, still plastered in posters of Viktor.

“Viktor, wait-!” Yuri said, but it was too late. Viktor was staring around the room in awe. 

“Yuri . . . you’re a big fan, aren’t you?” Viktor said, turning back to Yuri with a smile. Yuri ground the heels of his hands into his eyes, frantically avoiding Viktor’s gaze.

“No, no, it’s not like that, I mean, yes, I’m a fan of you, but it’s not like, that, I mean, you probably think I have a-“

“Crush on me?” Viktor smirked. “I should hope you do. Apparently, we’re meant to be, so it would be awkward if you didn’t have feelings for me.”

Yuri felt slender fingers wrap around his wrists, gently pulling his hands away from his eyes. “Why do you hide yourself from me?” Viktor asked, “You’re so beautiful, I could never get tired of looking at you.”

“I’m beautiful?” Yuri asked, still not meeting Viktor’s eyes. He looked down at his feet, seeing his calloused feet next to Viktor’s pale, thin ones. It seemed there wasn’t a single part of Viktor that wasn’t perfect.

“Of course you are,” Viktor said, tilting Yuri’s chin up to meet his eyes. “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, dorogoj.” 

“Have you seen yourself?” Yuri scoffed without thinking. He clapped his mouth shut quickly. “Oh god, I’m sorry, that was too forward-“

“You don’t know the meaning of ‘forward,’” Viktor said, “You wouldn’t believe the things some people have done.”

“Oh?” Yuri said, curious now. He knew that Viktor was famous, and he also knew that famous people often have weird stuff happen to them, but he wasn’t sure to what extent Viktor meant when he said people were forward.

“Let’s discuss this in the morning,” Viktor said, sitting on Yuri’s bed and bringing Yuri down with him. “It’s too late now. We should sleep.”

“Yeah,” Yuri said, unsure of how to respond. He was slowly but surely growing more comfortable around Viktor, but he still wasn’t able to see him as just a regular person. That would take a bit longer.

“Come to bed,” Viktor said, tucking himself under Yuri’s comforter and lifting up a corner so that Yuri could join him. Yuri sighed and threw caution to the wind, gingerly snuggling in beside Viktor. He still kept a good distance between them, though - he made sure to stay on his side of the bed. 

“Come here,” Viktor said, wrapping an arm around Yuri and tucking him into his chest. “Why do you stay so far away, dorogoj?”

“Well, I mean, you don’t want space?”

“Never from you,” Viktor said, “You can have as much of me as you want. I’m all yours.”

Yuri fell asleep quickly, enveloped in the soft warmth of the other man. But when he woke up the next morning, he was alone, and the bed was cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if that summary was cheesy :P I'm not very good at doing short hooks like that.
> 
> Since this work went over so well, I decided to add another chapter! I'm not sure how many chapters this will be yet, it will depend on your enthusiasm to see this work continued. Please enjoy!
> 
> Dorogoj means "my darling" in Russian.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor and Yuri are happily enjoying each other's company. They're not the only ones in the Ice Castle, though . . .

Yuri allowed himself to stay in bed for a few more minutes. He was sure he would have stayed longer if Viktor had been there. His mom eventually came in though, telling him to get up and help out. He dragged himself out of bed, pulling on his usual uniform of sweatpants and a hoodie, forcing himself down the hall and trying to keep his eyes open.

He saw Viktor at the table, quietly drinking tea. He broke into his vibrant smile when he saw Yuri. “Yuri!” He said, “let’s go skating today! I have some ideas for some new routines you can practice.”

“Okay,” Yuri said. He didn’t want to admit that he would have followed Viktor anywhere. 

His mother set down a plate of toast in front of him and he ate it quickly, running back to his room to change into his training clothes. As he was zipping his sweater up he heard a soft knock on his door. “Come in,” he called, turning around. 

Viktor came into his room, shutting his door behind him. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you this morning,” he said, wrapping his arms around Yuri from behind, “but I didn’t know how your mother would react, and I didn’t want to risk anything. Do you forgive me?”

“Of course, you don’t need to ask for forgiveness, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I shouldn’t have abandoned you,” Viktor murmured, still sounding a bit guilty. 

“There was nothing that could have been done,” Yuri said, lacing his fingers through Viktor’s on his stomach. He felt Viktor lean his chin on his shoulder, tilting his face to press his lips to Yuri’s neck. Yuri felt a pleasant shiver run down his back. 

“We should go to the rink,” Viktor said, “It’s not good to miss days of training.”

“Y-yeah,” Yuri said, reluctantly letting go of Viktor’s hands. He pulled his black gloves up again, despite knowing there was no way they could slip off. His heart started racing and his palms got sweaty every time he thought about telling his parents. He quietly decided that he was never going to tell them.

 

Viktor biked to the Ice Castle with Yuri following behind him. Viktor said hello to an embarrassing amount of people - he’s so outgoing . . . Yuri thought - although he was surprisingly quiet when it came to talking to Yuri. Yuri assumed that it was because they had had a lot of excitement in the past day - Viktor had shown up at his house and seemingly immediately they were dating. The enormity of the situation was bound to hit him sometime, and it was going to take a while to work through that.

When they arrived, Yuri changed into his skates, as usual, but was surprised to see Viktor lacing skates up as well. 

“Oh, you’re going to be skating too?” He asked.

“Yes,” Viktor said, his lips quirking up at the corners, “I’ll teach you some things, but I need to be hands-on.”

How could he be more hands-on than he already is? Yuri thought as he finished lacing his skates. He took the guards off and set them on the bench, standing up. 

“Are you ready, dorogoj?” Viktor asked, taking Yuri’s hands in his and drawing them up to his mouth. He brushed his lips gently against Yuri’s knuckles. 

Yuri blushed hard and tried to resist the urge to yank his hands away. He enjoyed it, but he didn’t know how to react in this situation. “O-of course!” He said, “Let’s go.”

Viktor let go of one of his hands, adjusting the other one so that he was holding Yuri’s hand and drawing him onto the ice. 

“Show me what you can do,” Viktor said, pressing a short kiss to Yuri’s lips before smoothing down his hair and gliding over to the side of the rink. 

Yuri could barely think straight with the effects of so much of Viktor’s touch at the same time, but he tried his best. The cool air of the ice rink helped to calm him down, and eventually his legs stopped shaking like he’d just run five kilometres. Viktor was, as promised, more hands-on, he would occasionally gently place his hands on Yuri’s hips when adjusting him, and sometimes he would press his body against Yuri’s as they skated, making sure that he was doing what Viktor wanted. Ten minutes before the rink officially opened Viktor told Yuri to stop, telling him that he’d earned a reward.

“What do you mean?” Yuri said, getting excited at the idea of a reward despite being an adult. 

“You did very well, moya lyubov,” Viktor said, “how can you keep motivated if you work hard and get no reward?”

“I suppose I see your point,” Yuri said, before Viktor’s hand wrapped around the back of his head, kissing him gently. 

Yuri was surprised, not really knowing where to put his hands, but eventually they settled on Viktor’s shoulders, taking the plunge and carefully kissing back.

Viktor continued to kiss him for a few minutes, finally pulling away and pressing a few more kisses to his cheeks, neck, and finally the tip of his nose. “Let’s go back,” Viktor said, “I’m sure your mother misses us.”

“She misses you,” Yuri scoffed, “she likes you more than she likes my dad.”

They headed back into the locker room, chatting contentedly. Yuri felt at peace for the first time in a long time.

***

Axel turned off her phone, looking at her sisters. “This is gonna net us at least a thousand followers on Instagram,” she giggled.

Lutz flicked through the videos she’d taken on her camera. “This is gonna be great!” She said.

Loop turned to her sisters, looking them right in the eyes. “This is going to make Viktor and Yuri so popular!” She said.

The girls high-fived and scurried back home to post the pictures and videos online.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! The reason this took so long was because I had a mild existential crisis about my future and my personal writing. Which is why I ask: Would any of you be interested in seeing a longer, original work from me? It may be a bit presumptuous to ask this early, but I've been really looking at fan fiction and, if I'm being honest, I'm getting older and I'm going to have to be independent soon. Fan fiction is a fun hobby, but I should probably be focusing more on my own writing, which means updates may take longer than normal. How do you guys feel about that? Please let me know.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri and Viktor work through the aftermath of the triplets' publicity stunt.

When Yuri and Viktor returned, it was like nothing had happened. They ate lunch, Yuri showed Viktor around the town a bit, they soaked in the hot springs, ate dinner, and then went to bed. Viktor snuck into Yuri’s bed again, but Yuri was less awkward about it this time. As usual, Viktor was gone in the morning, but Yuri couldn’t help feeling disappointed. He shook his head, trying to clear those thoughts away. It was dangerous to be getting attached to him so soon after they met.

He stretched, pulling on his usual uniform of a sweatshirt and sweatpants, heading into the dining room. He was surprised to see that Viktor wasn’t there.

“Mom, where’s Viktor? He’s normally eaten by now . . .” He asked.

“Oh, he never came down. Maybe he’s still asleep. Can you check on him?”

“Sure.”

He headed back towards Viktor’s room, knocking on the door softly before going in. “Viktor?” 

He didn’t get any response.

He opened the door slowly, in case he was naked or something (you never knew with Viktor) but he couldn’t find him. He had seemingly been spirited away in the night. 

It makes sense, Yuri thought, if he’s an ice nymph like I thought. 

Yuri checked everywhere - under the bed, under his desk, even behind the perilous stacks of boxes that had never gotten unpacked. Finally, as a last resort he threw open the doors to his closet, looking around the small room.

“Y-Yuri?” Viktor said, very quietly. His voice was shaky and fragile.

“Viktor? Are you okay?” He said, kneeling down to get at his eye level. The other man had pressed himself firmly into the corner of his closet, his knees tucked into his chest, his hands curled into fists on top of them. He had tucked his face into his knees, so Yuri couldn’t see his expression.

“Are you okay?” Yuri repeated.

Viktor let out a shaky breath, not saying anything. 

“Viktor, what happened? Should I get my mom-“

“No!”

“Should I get Makkachin?”

“. . . Maybe.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back, alright? Stay here, I’ll only be gone for a few seconds.”

Yuri stood up, carefully shutting the door behind him. He opened Viktor’s door only to find Makkachin already there. He was scratching at the bottom of the door, whimpering. As soon as Yuri let him in he bolted to the closet, pawing at the opening. Yuri let him in and he immediately dove into Viktor’s arms. Viktor unfolded himself a bit to let Makkachin onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around the dog, squeezing him tightly against himself. 

“What happened?” Yuri asked. 

“They know, Yuri,” Viktor muttered into Makkachin’s fur. His face was pressed into Makkachin’s side, so Yuri still couldn’t see it. He tentatively reached out to stroke Viktor’s hair, being pleasantly surprised by how silky it was.

“What? Who knows what?”

“They know about you,” Viktor said, still not looking up.

“Viktor, I don’t know what you’re talking about-“

“They know that we’re soulmates!” Viktor said, finally looking up. There were dark circles under his eyes and his face was tearstained. “Someone leaked photos from the rink to the internet, and it’s exploded . . .”

“What? What do you mean photos?”

“I mean photos from when we went skating last night!” Viktor shouted, “when I was practically fucking . . . we were screaming that we’re soulmates to anyone who was watching!”

“Viktor, it’s okay, I don’t think this is going to go anywhere,” Yuri said, although he was starting to panic, too. He didn’t exactly want news of this getting out, and he especially didn’t want his parents finding out. He was going to have to do some serious damage control. 

“Listen, I’m going to make some calls, okay?” Yuri said, “I’m going to see what I can do. I have a friend who skates, he lives in Thailand now, and I’ll see what I can do about getting him to keep this quiet over there, okay?” He went to stand up but Viktor’s hand shot out, grabbing his wrist.

“Don’t you dare leave me here,” he said, “this might be the last time I can see you.”

“What do you mean?” Yuri said, his own voice wobbling now. He didn’t want to admit that he’d fallen for Viktor, but it was the truth. He’d had a crush on him for a long time before they had met, and now that they knew they were soulmates, it was hard not to fall head over heels in love with him.

“I’m going to have to go back to Russia,” he said, tugging Yuri down to meet him, “I’m going to see what I can do about having some friends of mine cover this up. I’m sorry, but I’m not sure if we’ll be able to continue this.”

“Viktor, listen,” Yuri said, wrapping his arms around Viktor and Makkachin. “You don’t have to go back to Russia, okay? You can call from here. I’ll cover any long-distance charges. Just call your friends, they’ll cover it up, this will all be kept under control. We can stay together, alright? Don’t worry about it.”

“I don’t know,” Viktor said, finally allowing himself to lean into Yuri, “If this gets out at all in Russia, even rumours could be a big hit to my career. I’ll never be able to skate again . . .”

“Viktor!” Yuri said, shifting so that he was sitting in front of him, tipping his face up so he was forced to look Yuri in the eye. “We’ve got this under control, okay? It’s going to be okay. We’re going to take some deep breaths, and it’s going to be fine. I’ll tell my parents you’re not feeling well, we can just take it easy for today, okay?”

“I need to make some calls.”

“Okay, okay, why don’t you do that while I get some tea ready? I’ll get you something to eat as well - my mom always says that a good meal helps you feel better.”

“I guess,” Viktor muttered, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. Yuri noticed that there was a crack in the screen that hadn’t been there before. 

Yuri headed into the kitchen, trying not to look too visibly shaken. “Viktor’s not feeling well, so we’re just going to take it easy today. No skating.” He said to his mom, even though an explanation wasn’t strictly necessary. 

“Of course, dear,” his mom said, “I hope he feels better soon.”

Yuri made some chamomile tea, hoping that it would calm Viktor down, and heated up a leftover pork cutlet bowl for Viktor. He made toast with butter for himself. He put all the food onto a tray and brought it into Viktor’s room. 

When he set the tray down and opened the closet door again, Viktor was speaking in Russian. Yuri didn’t know what he was saying, but it was very fast and quiet, and Viktor was visibly gritting his teeth when he wasn’t speaking. Eventually he ended the call and hung up, sighing tensely.

“I brought the food back,” he said, “here you go.” He handed Viktor the pork cutlet bowl, a pair of chopsticks balanced across the top. Makkachin, surprisingly, didn’t make an attempt to eat any of the food, instead faithfully staying on Viktor’s lap. 

Viktor took a gulp of the tea, grimacing at the temperature. “You shouldn’t grit your teeth,” Yuri said, trying to emulate Viktor’s easy, flirtatious attitude, “it would be hard to kiss you if you ground them all away.” He leaned in to kiss Viktor but he ducked away at the last second. Yuri felt a little scorned, but didn’t say anything about it. He understood that Viktor had boundaries and wanted to respect them. 

They sat in silence, Viktor eating quickly, barely even tasting the food. As soon as he was done he muttered a quick “thank you” and called someone else. 

Yuri sighed. He wasn’t sure what to do in this situation - he was concerned for what was going to happen, but he was clearly nowhere near as worried as Viktor. He had no idea how to calm him down, or even how to reassure him that they were really meant to be together, no matter what the world said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I get the feeling that this chapter is longer than the others, but for some reason, it's all dialogue . . . sorry about that ^.^''


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri and Viktor do some damage control, but Viktor is still worried about a scandal.

Viktor and Yuri had sat together for the rest of that day, Viktor making endless calls in hushed Russian, Yuri staying beside him as a comforting presence, making only one call himself - to his friend Phichit in Thailand.

“Phichit, it’s me,” he said when his friend picked up.

“Yuri! How are you doing?”

“Not so great,” he admitted.

“What happened?”

“There’s been some . . . compromising photos leaked, and I need you to keep them quiet.”

“Sure! Is it of you and Viktor?” 

“W-What? No! No, no, why would you think-“ Viktor looked up mournfully at Yuri, holding his hand palm-up for the phone. Yuri hesitated but said, “I’m gonna give the phone to Viktor, he’ll probably be able to explain it better.” Yuri only had time to hear the excited “Viktor?! I was joking!” before Viktor had pressed the phone to his ear.

“What do you want?” Viktor said.

“…”

“In return for your silence.”

“…”

“Are you sure? I can do my best to make accommodations.”

“…”

“Yes, well, forgive me. I’m not used to this.” Viktor smiled bitterly. “Please do your best. If this gets out it would jeopardize not only my career, but Yuri’s as well.”

With that he hung up abruptly, letting out a shaky breath.

“Who could have done such a thing, Yuri?” Viktor said, looking up at Yuri. Yuri had never seen him in such a state - his hair was dirty and disheveled, his face was blotchy and he looked like he could burst into tears at any moment.

“I don’t know,” Yuri said, wrapping his arms around Viktor and tucking his head under his chin. 

“I’m so sorry this happened,” Viktor said, “you wouldn’t have to deal with this if I had stayed in Russia.”

“We also never would have met,” Yuri reminded him gently, “everything that happens, happens for a reason. Remember that, okay? This experience is just making our relationship stronger.”

They spent the rest of the day huddled in Viktor’s closet, just sitting, enjoying each other’s company. Yuri didn’t want to think about Viktor leaving - he didn’t know how he would go back to his regular life, now that he’d tasted this life with Viktor, with a soulmate. 

That evening Yuri asked if Viktor wanted him to sleep in his bed with him, and Viktor visibly flinched. Yuri dropped it, assuring him that it was okay, that he was fine to sleep by himself, that everything would be better in the morning.

Yuri could only hope that he was right. 

 

“I’m sorry, dorogoj,” Viktor said, kissing Yuri’s cheeks, “I can’t stay any longer. I have to go back.”

“Please don’t leave me,” Yuri cried, tears streaming down his face. His heart felt like it was being slowly vivisected.

“It’s for the best,” Viktor said, pulling his hand away from Yuri’s grasp. “I’ll always love you.”

 

“Viktor!” Yuri shouted as he jumped awake in his bed. It was still dark, the moon high in the sky, illuminating the snow on the ground. He rubbed his eyes and found that they were wet.

He carefully slid out of his bed, avoiding the creaky spots in the floor as he crept down the hall to Viktor’s room. I’ll just check on him, just make sure he’s okay, he told himself. He cracked open the door, peeking inside.

Viktor had his back to the door and was curled in on himself. Makkachin was sitting beside him, looking worried. Makkachin looked up at the sound of the door being opened, and, noticing Yuri, jumped off the bed to greet him. 

“Shh,” he said as quietly as possible. He stroked the dog’s head a couple times and urged him to go back to Viktor.

Makkachin pressed his nose into Yuri’s hand and looked back at Viktor.

Yuri sighed and opened the door enough to get through, leading Makkachin to Viktor’s bed. When he got closer, he noticed that Viktor was trembling. He pulled Viktor’s blanket up higher, tucking it in around his neck. He sat down on the bed, rubbing Viktor’s shoulder gently. He’d completely forgotten the goal of “check on him and leave.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, so quietly it was almost inaudible, “I’m sorry it had to be like this.”

“It’s not your fault,” Viktor said, and Yuri almost jumped out of his skin.

“You’re awake?!” Yuri whispered, concern giving way to surprise for a brief second. He quickly regained his composure, trying not to freak out too much.

“To be honest, neither of us are to blame,” Viktor said, still not turning around. “But I won’t let you beat yourself up over it. So I’ll take that burden.”

“No, Viktor,” Yuri said, turning so that he was propping himself up on an elbow beside Viktor. “You don’t need to. Didn’t you just say that?”

“I can carry it, though,” he said, “I have a great deal of secrets that I’ve had to keep to myself over the years. What’s one more? Although,” he coughed out a harsh laugh, “this one isn’t a secret anymore, is it?”

“Viktor,” Yuri said, “tomorrow, do you want to go to the Ice Castle? To find out who did this? If we can get to the source, it might be easier to stop it.”

“I guess,” Viktor said, not sounding very enthusiastic. 

“Go to sleep now,” Yuri said, tucking himself right around Viktor, mimicking his position. “It’ll be better in the morning.” He laced his fingers through Viktor’s, pressing soft kisses into the back of his neck.

Viktor eventually stopped shaking, and they managed to fall asleep, wrapped up in each other. Yuri didn’t have any more nightmares that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter didn't go anywhere either ... don't worry, there'll definitely (hopefully) be some plot in the next one! Thank you for your patience!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave any constructive criticism in the comments - I'm always looking to improve!


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